Category Archives: Bios

S’well is a company that launched with one goal in mind. That goal was to rid the world of plastic water bottles. Launching the company was something easier said than done. Sarah Kauss understood that there was a need for this product. It was a great idea and plus it was way more environmentally friendly. Of course, like any good family and group of friends, Kauss had a great support system. They supported her idea and probably gave her a few tips and tricks. At the end of the day, however, they are not professionals. They could not give her the guidance that she needed. That’s when she realized she needed a network of professionals that know the ins and outs of how the business world works. Kauss realized that a great mentor would have been just what she needed. She needed someone to motivate and believe in her until she believed in herself. Fortunately, Kauss found a group just like what she wished for. It was a group that came together and supported other women in the business world.

This group did more for her than just offer support. It gave her the confidence to support S’well wherever she went. She was no longer nervous about pitching what her company was all about. Where ever she saw an opportunity to talk about her company, she took it.

This company was called EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women and it’s really what she owes her success too. They also taught her the importance of just having fun with the business! A lot of people don’t realize that a little bit of fun is needed to truly make a business successful. Through this group, Kauss noticed that in order to make S’well a success she also had to communicate with her whole entire team. This means communicating everything – the good, the bad, and the ugly. Overall, S’well is doing quite successfully. Who knows where her company would have been without that group.

I was checking out one of my favorite blogs this morning and came across an article about the economic stimulus of 2008 (remember that one) that got me thinking. Jonathan Parker and Christian Broda’s comments really struck me and I decided to do a little research on the latter. So here goes.

Christian Broda’s current post with Duquesne Capital Management and his numerous roles in financial research and reporting has made the Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate an authority on the topic of economics. He is not to be confused with Christian Broda– the lawyer and politician of the same name.

Broda, now the managing director with Duquense Capital Management, first hit the financial scene after earning a Ph.D. in economics from MIT in 2001 and graduating summa cum laude with a B.A. from Universidad de San Andres. The following September, Broda accepted a position with the International Research Department at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where he remained on board until 2004.

In 2005 Broda brought his talents to the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business, where he educated students there as the associate professor of economics. Three years later, Broda went on to become the university’s tenured economics professor, and he remained on the faculty there until 2010. It was also during this time that Broda spent a year at Lehman Brothers/Barclays Capital working as the company’s chief international economist.

Over the course of his career, Broda has penned many articles and books and tweets about international trade and finance, and his research has appeared in prominent industry publications including the American Economic Review and the Quarterly Journal of Economics. The online financial publication ValueWalk recently featured an article in which Broda argued that the United States dollar would retain its status as the world currency of choice, despite the beliefs of some of his colleagues.

Broda is a National Bureau of Economic Research fellow, a role he has had since 2006, serves as the associate editor for the Journal of Development Economics and sits on the editorial board of the IMF Economic Review. In addition, Broda is a member of several industry-related associations including the American Economic Association and the Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association.

Broda’s work has brought him plenty of recognition, too. He named the James S. Kemper Foundation Scholar from 2006, and he is a two-time winner of grants from the National Science Foundation.